La Jolla (/ləˈhɔɪ.ə/) is an affluent[2] neighborhood in San Diego, California. It is a hilly seaside community, occupying 7 miles (11 km) of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean within the northern city limits. La Jolla had the highest home prices in the nation in 2008 and 2009; the average price of a standardized four-bedroom home in La Jolla was reported as US $1.8 million in 2008 and US $2.1 million in 2009.[3] The 2004 estimated population of the 92037 ZIP code was 42,808 [1] while the La Jolla community planning area had an estimated population of 31,746 in 2010.[1] La Jolla is surrounded on three sides by ocean bluffs and beaches[4] and is located 12 miles (19 km) north of Downtown San Diego, and 40 miles (64 km) south of Orange County California,[5][6] The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature of 70.5 °F (21.4 °C)[7][8] La Jolla is home to a variety of businesses in the areas of lodging, dining, shopping, software, finance, real estate, bio-engineering, medical practice and scientific research.[4][9][10]

History[edit]

Origin of the name[edit]

Local Native Americans, the Kumeyaay, called this location mat kulaaxuuy[mat kəlaːxuːj], lit. "land of holes" (mat = "land").[11] The topographic feature that gave rise to the name "holes" is uncertain; it probably refers to sea-level caves located on the north-facing bluffs, which are visible from La Jolla Shores. It is suggested that the Kumeyaay name for the area was transcribed by the Spanish settlers as La Jolla.

An alternative, pseudo-etymological suggestion for the origin of the name is that it is a corruption of the Spanish word la joya, which means "the jewel". Despite being disputed by scholars, this derivation of the name has been widely cited in popular culture.[12] That supposed origin gave rise to the nickname "Jewel City".[13]

Early history[edit]

"Red Roost" and "Red Rest", two bungalow cottages built in 1894 on the road above La Jolla Cove. In recent years the cottages have been covered in tarpaulins.

The side view of "Red Roost", a bungalow cottage built in 1894, one of two that still exist on the road above La Jolla Cove.

During the Mexican period of San Diego's history, La Jolla was mapped as pueblo land and contained about 60 lots. When California became a state in 1850, the La Jolla area was incorporated as part of the chartered City of San Diego. In 1870 Charles Dean acquired several of the pueblo lots and subdivided them into an area that became known as La Jolla Park. Dean was unable to develop the land and left San Diego in 1881. A real estate boom in the 1880s led speculators Frank T. Botsford and George W. Heald to further develop the sparsely settled area.

In the 1890s the San Diego, Pacific Beach, and La Jolla Railway was built, connecting La Jolla to the rest of San Diego. La Jolla became known as a resort area. To attract visitors to the beach, the railway built facilities such as a bath house and a dance pavilion. Visitors were housed in small cottages and bungalows above La Jolla Cove, as well as a temporary tent city, erected every summer. Two of the cottages that were built in 1894 still exist: the "Red Roost" and the "Red Rest", also known as the "Neptune and Cove Tea Room"; the two cottages have been vacant since the 1980s, and are covered in tarpaulins. The La Jolla Park Hotel opened in 1893. The Hotel Cabrillo was built in 1908 by "Squire" James A. Wilson and was later incorporated into the La Valencia Hotel.[14]

By 1900 La Jolla comprised 100 buildings and 350 residents. The first reading room (library) was built in 1898.[14] A volunteer fire brigade was organized in 1907; the city of San Diego established a regular fire house in 1914. Livery stable owner Nathan Rannells served successively as La Jolla's volunteer fire captain, first police officer (the only San Diego police officer north of Mission Valley), and first postmaster.[15]

Scripps Institution of Oceanography[edit]

Scripps Institution of Oceanography pier

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography, one of the nation's oldest oceanographic institutes, was founded in 1903 by William Emerson Ritter, chair of the zoology department at the University of California, with financial support from Scripps and her brother E. W. Scripps. At first the institution operated out of a boathouse in Coronado. In 1905 they purchased a 170-acre (0.69 km2) site in La Jolla where the Institution still stands today. The first laboratory buildings there opened in 1907. The institution became part of the University of California in 1912. Ultimately it became the nucleus for the establishment of the University of California, San Diego.

Camp Matthews[edit]

From 1917 through 1964 the U.S. Marine Corps maintained a military base in La Jolla. The base was used for marksmanship training and was known as Camp Calvin B. Matthews. During and after World War II the population of La Jolla grew, causing residential development to draw close to the base, so that it became less and less suitable as a firing range because of risk to the adjacent civilian population.[16] Meanwhile the site was being eyed as a location for a proposed new campus of the University of California. In 1962 Camp Matthews was declared surplus by the Marine Corps. The base formally closed in 1964, and that same year the first class of undergraduates enrolled in the University of California, San Diego.

University of California[edit]

Local civic leaders had long toyed with the idea of a San Diego campus of the University of California, and the quest became more definite following World War II. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography, under its director Roger Revelle, had become an important defense contractor, and local aerospace companies like Convair were pressing for local training for their scientists and engineers. The state legislature proposed the idea in 1955, and the Regents of the University formally approved it in 1960.[17] The campus was originally named "University of California, La Jolla", but the name was changed to "University of California, San Diego" in 1960.[18] The founding chancellor was Herbert York, named in 1961, and the second chancellor was John Semple Galbraith, named in 1964. The university was designed to have a "college" system; there are now six colleges. The first college was established in 1965 and was named Revelle College after Roger Revelle, who is regarded as the "father" of the university.[18] A medical school was established in 1968. The landmark BrutalistGeisel Library opened in 1970.

Antisemitism[edit]

The Camp Matthews site for the University was selected with some hesitation; one of the concerns was "whether La Jollans in particular would lay aside old prejudices in order to welcome a culturally, ethnically, and religiously diverse professoriate into their midst".[17] La Jolla had a history of restrictive housing policies, often specified in deeds and ownership documents. In La Jolla Shores and La Jolla Hermosa, only people with "pure" European ancestry could own property; this excluded Jews, who were not considered white. Such "restrictive covenants" were once fairly common throughout the United States; the 1948 Supreme Court case Shelley v. Kraemer ruled them to be unenforceable, and Congress outlawed them twenty years later.[19] However, realtors and property owners in La Jolla continued to use more subtle ways of preventing or discouraging Jews from owning property there.[20] Revelle stated the issue bluntly: "You can't have a university without having Jewish professors. The Real Estate Broker's Association and their supporters in La Jolla had to make up their minds whether they wanted a university or an anti-Semitic covenant. You couldn't have both."[21] The issue was overcome; La Jolla now boasts a thriving Jewish population,[22] and there are four synagogues in La Jolla.[23]

Mount Soledad cross[edit]

Mount Soledad is a 822-foot (251 m) tall hill on the eastern edge of La Jolla, one of the highest points in San Diego. A large Christian cross was placed at the top in 1913 as a prominent landmark. It has been replaced twice, most recently in 1954 with a 29-foot-tall (8.8 m) cross (43 feet tall, including the base). Originally known as the "Mount Soledad Easter Cross", its presence on publicly owned land was challenged in the 1980s as a violation of the separation of church and state. Since then the cross has had a war memorial built around it and was renamed "Mount Soledad Veterans War Memorial".[24] The issue has been in almost continual litigation ever since, with the city attempting to sell or give away the land under the cross. By an act of Congress, the federal government took possession of it under eminent domain in 2006. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declared the cross unconstitutional in 2011, and the Supreme Court of the United States declined to hear an appeal.[25] In December 2013, U.S. District Judge Larry Burns ordered that the cross be removed within 90 days, but stayed the order pending a forthcoming appeal by the government.[26][27]

Arts[edit]

La Jolla became an art colony in 1894 when Anna Held (also known as Anna Held Heinrich) established the Green Dragon Colony. This was a cluster of twelve cottages designed by Irving Gill, who had moved to San Diego only a year earlier and later became San Diego's best-known architect.[28]

The La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer.[29] It became inactive in 1959, but was revived in 1983 on the University of California campus under the leadership of Des McAnuff. It now incorporates three theaters: the Mandell Weiss Theatre (1983), the Mandell Weiss Forum (1991) and the Potiker Theater (2005).

The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego was founded in 1941 in La Jolla, in the former home of Ellen Browning Scripps (designed by Irving J. Gill). The museum has undergone several renovations and expansions, and includes new plans in 2014 to triple its size.[30]

The U.S. Postal Service defines a somewhat larger area, assigning the community the 92037 ZIP code, recognizing it as a historically and geographically distinct area. This unique ZIP code allows addresses to read La Jolla, CA and is the only community within the City of San Diego so recognized. Additionally, it is in the 919xx/920xx sequence used for suburban and rural ZIP codes in San Diego County, rather than the 921xx sequence used for the remainder of the City of San Diego itself. These conditions sometimes lead to the erroneous impression that La Jolla is a separate city rather than a part of San Diego. The 92037 ZIP code extends the northeasterly boundary to Genesee Avenue and the northerly boundary to Del Mar, California. The UCSD campus, although it is part of La Jolla, has ZIP codes 92092 and 92093.

Geology[edit]

La Jolla is an area of mixed geology, including sandy beaches and rocky shorelines. The area is occasionally susceptible to flooding and ocean storms, as occurred in January and December 2010.[34]

Mount Soledad is covered with the narrow roads that follow its contours and hundreds of homes overlooking the ocean on its slopes. It is the home of the large concrete Mount Soledad Easter Cross built in 1954, later designated a Korean War Memorial, that became the center of a controversy over the display of religious symbols on government property.

The most compelling geographical highlight of La Jolla is its ocean front, with alternating rugged and sandy coastline, and wild seal congregations. Popular beaches and coastal access points listed here from north to south, are:

Demographics[edit]

According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, the ethnic/racial makeup of La Jolla is 82.5% White, 0.8% Black, 0.2% American Indian, 11.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.0% some other race, and 3.1% two or more races. Latinos, who may be of any race, form 7.2% of La Jolla's population.

La Jolla had the highest home prices in the nation in 2008[35] and 2009,[36] according to a survey by Coldwell Banker. The survey compares the cost of a standardized four-bedroom home in communities across the country. The average price for such a home in La Jolla was reported as US$1.842 million in 2008 and US$2.125 million in 2009.

Country Club – Lower Mt. Soledad on the northwest side, including the La Jolla Country Club golf course.

Village – Also called Village of La Jolla (not to be confused with La Jolla Village) the "downtown" business district area, including most of La Jolla's shops and restaurants, and the immediately surrounding higher density and single family residential areas.

Beach-Barber Tract – The coastal section from Windansea Beach to the Village. A few shops and restaurants along La Jolla Boulevard.

Bird Rock – Southern coastal La Jolla, and the very lowest slopes of Mt. Soledad in the area. Notable for shops and restaurants along La Jolla Boulevard, five traffic roundabouts on La Jolla Boulevard, coastal bluffs, and surfing areas just two blocks off the main drag.

Muirlands – Relatively large area on western middle slope of Mt. Soledad. No businesses.

La Jolla Mesa – A strip on the lower southern side of Mt. Soledad, bordering Pacific Beach. No businesses.

La Jolla Alta – A master-planned development east of La Jolla Mesa. No businesses.

Soledad South – Southeastern slopes of Mt. Soledad, all the way up to the top, east of La Jolla Alta.

Muirlands West – The small neighborhood between Muirlands to the south, and Country Club to the north. No businesses.

Upper Hermosa – Southwestern La Jolla, north of Bird Rock and east of La Jolla Blvd.

La Jolla Village - Not to be confused with the Village (of La Jolla). In northeast La Jolla, east of La Jolla Heights, west of I-5 and south of UCSD. The neighborhood's namesake is the La Jolla Village Square shopping and residential mall, which includes two movie theaters.

Community groups[edit]

The La Jolla Community Planning Association[37] advises the city council, Planning Commission, City Planning Department as well as other governmental agency as appropriate in the initial preparation, adoption of, implementation of, or amendment to the General or Community Plan as it pertains to the La Jolla area as well as review specific development proposals.[38] The nonprofit La Jolla Town Council[39] represents the interests of La Jolla businesses and residents that belong to the Council. The Bird Rock Community Council[40] serves the Bird Rock neighborhood, while the La Jolla Shores Association[41] serves the La Jolla Shores neighborhood.

Community organizations include Independent La Jolla,[42] a membership-based citizens group seeking to secede from the city of San Diego. Service clubs in La Jolla include Kiwanis, Rotary, La Jolla Woman's Club[43] and the Social Service League of La Jolla,[44] to name a few.

Downtown La Jolla is noted for jewelry stores, boutiques, upmarket restaurants and hotels. Prospect Street and Girard Avenue are also shopping and dining districts.[47] The Museum of Contemporary Art, founded in 1941, is located just above the waterfront in what was originally the 1915 residence of philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps. The museum has a permanent collection with more than 3,500 post-1950 American and European works, including paintings, works on paper, sculptures, photographic art, design objects and video works.[48] The museum was renamed Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in 1990 to recognize its regional significance.

In 2011, the La Jolla Community Foundation commissioned various artists to contribute to the scenery of the town, through various murals. Some of the artists that are featured in the series are John Baldessari, Julian Opie, and Kim MacConnell. There are 11 murals in the series, all of which will be on display for two years.[50]

^For example, when the world-famous mathematician and philosopher Jacob Bronowski came to the Salk Institute in 1963, he wanted to build a home on La Jolla Farms Road for his family. For his required character references, his family produced letters from members of Parliament, in Garson, Sue (2003). "The End of Covenant". The San Diego Jewish Journal. Archived from the original on 2010-07-01. Retrieved 2010-06-30.